Retired
by Aerith The Evenstar
Summary: This is an AU one shot for my main story To Dance Among The Skies, which is in memory of the space shuttle Discovery being retired today. Have a box of tissues ready before you read this since this is meant to be a sad story.


ATE: Okay, so this may not be chapter 22 of To Dance Among The Skies, but I got this idea when I was talking to **Crystalmaiden62 **about the space shuttle_ Discovery _landing today (April 17, 2012) at the Dulles Airport in VA due to the fact that it is now retired, and we ended up coming up with this idea that it was Jetfire being retired today. I also decided to write this since I looked on this site and didn't see anyone else do a story for this event, so I thought 'why not?' Someone had to do one at least. I also couldn't exactly write a summary for this story since it would kinda spoil what the story's about (I like to shock people every now and then, you know?).

Before you ask, this one shot would be considered an AU of To Dance Among The Skies for many reasons (which you'll all find out as you read this story), so for those of you that are thinking that this is going to happen in TDATS, this isn't going to be how the main story ends. Also there's a bit of a reference to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that people will spot instantly. Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, space shuttle _Discovery_, NASA, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, or the SR-71 Blackbird. I only own Valerie, Astera, and two other OC characters that you'll encounter in this one shot.

WARNING: I hope you have some tissues nearby since you're most likely going to cry while reading this.

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**Retired**

Jetfire couldn't do anything but watch as he 'flew' through the sky over Washington D.C. and catching glimpses of all the people who had gathered around to watch, some of them either taking pictures or recording the event as he went around a few laps. But the thing was that he wasn't really flying and instead riding on top of a larger jet that was doing the flying for him. It made him sad as he recalled the events that led to him being retired.

It started out with the fact that years back the humans had started getting suspicious about the existence of the Autobots (or all transformers in general) and because of this they all made the hard decision that would change their lives forever: remain in alt mode for the rest of their existence. It was harder for Jetfire to do since it not only meant that he would no longer be able to fly freely in the sky, but it meant that he would no longer be able to be with Valerie; that's why it was so hard for him to do this, but he actually had to replace the space shuttle _Discovery_ with himself. Luckily Rad had been working with NASA when this happened and told only a few of the staff that he'd have to replace the real shuttle (to which they agreed to along with not telling a single soul about Jetfire's existence) and to this day the public would never know the difference. From there Jetfire had taken flights into space for NASA, but that was all he was able to do now despite the fact that he was no longer the one controlling his actions.

But no matter how hard he tried Jetfire could never stop thinking about Valerie or how much his spark yearned for his sparkmate. He could still remember the day when she had been there to hear that he'd be forced to spend the rest of his life as a space shuttle for NASA, and seeing all the tears she cried broke his spark and made saying goodbye to her even more harder than it already was. She knew that he had no other choice, but it meant that she wouldn't be able to see him as he really was and he'd be unable to be there whenever she needed him. But above all else it meant that he'd be giving up the last thing in the universe that made him happy. On their last night together Jetfire gave her a special gift that he knew she'd always cherish: his love; and he showed her just how much he truly loved her before he had to leave her forever.

Even to this day he could still remember everything about her, from her touch, the way her voice sounded whenever she spoke, how her sky blue eyes expressed all the emotions she felt, to how happy he was when she was with him and her beautiful smile. As time went on the connection they had with each other began to fade until all that was left was a memory of what they had, like a footprint in the sand that had disappeared over time as the waves washed over it. All he had left now were all his memories of those days he spent with his Skydancer, along with the grief and nostalgia he felt as his spark was denied what he truly wanted more than anything, more than the freedom he once had when he had been the proud Vice Commander of the Autobots. He had no idea how Valerie was doing, if she was still sad that they had to leave each other or if she was feeling the same way he did; he had no way of knowing if she were sick or in pain and if she were alive or dead.

Nothing made Jetfire happy anymore; flying or going into space while being piloted by humans did nothing to change how he felt. He found no joy in his life that it would've been easy to say that he was miserable with the way he was living. No, this wasn't living; this was just existing. It didn't make him any different than the non-sentient machines and robots that were just built and programmed for the sole purpose to be used by humans. That's all he and the rest of his comrade were to the world now: just machines.

He didn't know how many years it had been since he had last seen Valerie or Rad (who had been the one that managed to get him under the jurisdiction of NASA) since time seemed to blur together and go slow for him. He missed everyone he knew and surprisingly he even missed the Decepticons (as strange as that may be).

Again, time passed and he was now displayed as an exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum where the only thing he could do was watch as humans (both young and old) came and went during their time within the large building. All the other planes and jets surrounding him did little to grab his attention, except for the SR-71 Blackbird that was displayed nearby. From what he had learned about it, the Blackbird had been a stealth aircraft designed specifically for reconnaissance back in 1964 and was retired in 1998. It was sad that such an advanced aircraft was no longer being use and he now shared the same fate as the Blackbird.

It was then that he noticed some people standing in front of him and he was shocked when he saw one of the people in the small group.

"Valerie…?" He whispered quietly in surprise, thankful that the noise of all the people inside the museum drowned out his voice.

It had to be her! She looked the same way she did when he last saw her, even if her outfit was a little different than what he was used to seeing her wear. But for some reason her sky blue eyes were looking around her as if she was searching for someone as the older man turned to see that she wasn't following.

"Skye, are you coming?" The older man asked.

Skye? Why was the older man calling her that? There had to be a mistake.

"No, Dad. I'm thinking of staying at this exhibit a little longer."

_Dad?_! That couldn't be right! He looked nothing like Thomas Smith at all! Jetfire looked at the older man in order to take in his appearance, only for his spark to skip a pulse. The older man was tall and despite the fact that a few strands of his hair were graying it was still a rich looking dark red color with blue eyes. He instantly recognized a few facial features that belonged to Valerie, along with a few that belonged to his holoform's appearance. He couldn't get rid of the shock he now felt. The older man…was his son! The son he never got to see Valerie give birth to or the chance to hold as a newborn sparkling! Then that meant that the young femme that looked like his sparkmate was actually his granddaughter!

'_My granddaughter…_' He thought, feeling his spark ache a bit. '_She looks…so much like Valerie. An exact mirror image of her._'

Jetfire noticed his newly discovered son walk away, leaving Skye to stare up at him with…a knowing look in her sky blue eyes, Valerie's eyes. Just looking at his granddaughter made memories of his sparkmate flood his processor. Why did she have to have the same appearance as her? Was this some cruel joke that Primus was playing on him? Skye took a few steps closer to him and pulled out a phone to look at something before turning her gaze back to him with a sad smile.

"Grandma always told me stories about you when she was still alive." Skye said, her voice quiet so only he could hear.

Jetfire felt his throat tighten and his spark clench slightly. Valerie…was dead? His sparkmate was gone and he never knew about it? He hadn't felt the pain of her passing because his connection with her had disappeared.

'_Skydancer…_' He thought mournfully. '_I never got to see you as an old woman. I never got to see my own son until now._'

"She even told me the story of that happened when she took this picture on her phone." Skye turned the cell phone around so he able to see the screen and he felt nostalgic when he saw the picture of him covered in pink paint, along with him holding Hot Shot and Sideswipe against the wall after they had pulled a prank on him by dumping pink paint on him. He could remember it as if it had all happened yesterday. "It was always one of my favorite stories she would tell me. My dad doesn't really believe that you exist, but I always did. I don't think Grandma could ever make up such stories when she showed how much emotions she expressed by recalling those memories. She always told me how much she loved you, and believe me that was a lot of love on her part. I still remember asking her where my Grandpa was when I was little and she ended up telling me the saddest story I've ever heard. And now here you are, Grandpa, on display in a museum after being retired. I…never thought I'd meet you this way."

Jetfire wanted to cry after hearing this. Valerie loved him so much that she chose to stay single after he left her. And the fact that Skye wasn't angry at him or anything for not being present in her life made him feel…happy. This was the first time he had been happy in so long, but it was nothing compared to the happiness he experienced with Skydancer. So for the first time since he had last seen Valerie…he activated his holoform (after seeing if anyone was paying attention) which appeared in front of Skye. His granddaughter jumped in surprise at first when he suddenly appeared, but then she recovered as she realized who he was. Jetfire pulled Skye close to him as he held her in a loving embrace and buried his face into her shoulder before silently crying. He wish he could've been there for Valerie when his son was born and be a part of the family he had wanted for so long, but now he finally got to meet his granddaughter for the first time and hold her. Although he probably wasn't making such a good impression by crying into her shoulder like he was now, but Skye didn't seem to mind as she rubbed his back soothingly. But what took him by surprise were the familiar words of the Cybertronian Lullaby that she was now singing quietly to him. He was trying so hard to make himself stop crying, but all the sadness that had accumulated over the years prevented him from doing so. Not only did she look like Valerie, but her voice sounded just like her, down to how she sounded as she was singing.

"I'm sorry…" Jetfire whispered when he managed to calm down.

"It's okay. You were crying because you were sad and that's understandable." Skye stated.

"No." He shook his head as he pulled away from her a bit to gaze down at her. She was the same height as Valerie, he noticed. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what _did _you mean?"

"I meant that I was sorry for not being around or involved in you or your father's lives." He gave her a small smile as he gazed down at her with his gold eyes before lifting up a hand and tucking a strand of ash blonde hair behind Skye's ear. "You look _exactly_ the same as your Grandmother did when she was your age."

"Really?" He couldn't help the happiness he felt as he saw Skye's face lit up. So much like Valerie…

"Yep. I'm not even kidding in the slightest bit. You literally look like you were _cloned_ from her or something!" He chuckled quietly before starting to lead her over to a nearby bench so they could sit down. "At first I thought you were actually her until your father said your name." Then he suddenly became sad as he recalled the news she gave him. "But to find out that she's really dead after not seeing or hearing from her in so long…"

Skye gave Jetfire a look of sympathy as she gazed at him.

"She was right. You really did love her."

"Oh, more than you could _ever _imagine! She loved me regardless of my faults _and _my past combined. In a way I guess you could say that she had me wrapped around her finger. She wasn't my world, but my _universe_. That's how much I loved and cared about her." He turned to Skye. "Did she tell you about the whole sparkmate thing?"

"She did. And I have to admit that it sounds so romantic."

Jetfire couldn't help but smile.

"Not only that, but it's obligatory for Cybertronians. There was this one time I got jealous over the fact that she had this secret admirer that I thought she had feelings for—which wasn't the case—and that was the closest we had gotten when it came to breakups, but then it affected her in ways that made me feeling extremely guilty and horrible for putting her through that when she almost died. It showed me just how important she was to me and my life."

"She told me about that before. If I was ever in that kind of situation I'd probably be scared shitless, but then again she wasn't able to feel any emotions at that time."

"Yeah…"

"You know? You don't exactly look as old as I imagined you to be."

Jetfire's eyes widened at this slightly in surprise.

"What? Just how _old _did you _imagine _me to be?"

"Well…" Skye suddenly looked a little sheepish. "I thought you'd be, you know, a little on the elderly side when it comes to humans."

He couldn't help but burst out laughing at this.

"I'm not _that_ old! I'm only 270,050 years old, which makes me 27 by human standards. I won't exactly be elderly until about a million years or so."

Skye giggled at this.

"If it means anything, you're kinda good looking considering you're my Grandpa and all."

Jetfire grinned.

"I'm good looking, eh?"

She nodded.

"I can see why she fell in love with you."

"I hope you're not _flirting _with your Grandpa Jetfire here."

"No, no!" She laughed. "I'm not _flirting _with you! That would be wrong of me to do something like that when you clearly loved Grandma."

"Yeah…" Jetfire sighed before turning his gaze to his real form. "You know, I'm kinda sad."

"How come?"

"I've missed so much of Valerie's life after all these years. It wasn't until today that I learned that I had a son and a granddaughter that looks like her to boot. I guess today has been filled with all sorts of surprises for your old man, well technically I'm not an old man, but you get the idea."

"Yeah. You're pretty cool, more than I thought you'd be from all those stories of you that she told me. I'm glad that today proved that."

"You're not so bad yourself, considering you're my grandkid." Jetfire said, smiling as he turned to her before placing a hand on top of her head and ruffling her hair a bit.

"Hey!" She playfully protested before laughing.

"Skye!"

Jetfire watched Skye turn to where the voice came from and he saw his son walking over to where they were sitting on the bench.

"Hey, Dad! How were the other exhibits?" Skye asked.

"They were okay." It was then that he noticed Jetfire. "Who's this?"

"Um, well Dad, this happens to be…"

"I happen to be your father, you know?" Jetfire answered for her. "We've never met before, but I kinda figured it out for myself."

"Wait, what?" His son said, not sure if he should believe what Jetfire told him or not. "Where have you been all these years? And shouldn't you be _older_?"

Jetfire sighed.

"Okay, one thing you should know is that I'm not _that _old, seriously what's with everyone thinking I should be _old_? And to answer your first question…" Jetfire merely pointed to his shuttle form. "…that's your answer."

His son looked to where he was pointing and Jetfire saw his face pale slightly.

"So those stories Mom told me _were _true."

"Yep! Every single one of them." Jetfire gave him a sad smile. "Sorry I wasn't around when you were growing up. It was kinda like that while I was growing up, except for the fact that my own father died in a war when I was about 5 years old by human standards."

Jetfire suddenly felt tired since sweat started to form on his holoform's skin to physically show it. Skye saw this and looked concerned.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?" She asked.

"I'm starting to get tired from having my holoform activated for so long, and it doesn't help that I haven't had energon in so long. Gasoline can never be a substitute fuel for Cybertronians when it comes to keeping their power levels up. I forgot how much power it takes to keep it up."

"How much time do you have left for keeping it up?" His son asked.

"Long enough to finally have the chance to say goodbye to both of you." Jetfire saw the sad look on Skye's face and was surprised to see the sad look on his son's face, but he gave them a warm smile. "I was fortunate enough to meet both of you two today and find out that I have a son I'm proud of and a beautiful granddaughter that looks just like her Grandmother. My only regret is not having met you two sooner or being there to raise you." His throat tightened slightly as he did his best to hold back the tears. "I have but one request before I go for good."

"What is it?"

"I'd like to be able to hug you at least once, my son."

Jetfire's son replied by coming up and wrapping his arms around him, and he returned the hug as well.

"Jason."

Jetfire pulled away slightly to look at his son, the confusion obvious on his face.

"What?" He asked.

"That's what Mom named me: Jason."

"Jason." Jetfire smiled at this before chuckling quietly. "She certainly can be original when it comes to names." He joked, knowing where Valerie got that name from. He turned to Skye. "You might as well come over here and give me a hug before I leave."

Skye didn't hesitate to hug Jetfire, which was something that surprised him considering that he kept thinking that he was talking to Valerie this whole time (causing him to constantly remind himself that it was Skye and not his sparkmate). He wrapped his arms around her as he hugged her back.

"Goodbye, Grandpa Jetfire. Even if this is the first time we've met I'm really going to miss you." Skye said.

"I know." He pulled way and he was unable to stop the single tear that fell from his holoform's gold eyes. "I'm going to miss both of you. I guess…my time's finally come for me to move on to the next life."

With that Jetfire's holoform disappeared before their eyes, but unknown to all the other people inside the museum the shuttle mech's spark faded from his body before ending up within the Well of All Sparks. As soon as he arrived he found both of his parents, Astera and Silverbolt, waiting for him, but what surprised him the most was when he spotted the beautiful human femme clothed in a long flowing white dress with sky blue eyes and ash blonde hair waiting for him with a loving smile gracing her lips. Jetfire instantly ran over to her before scooping her up in his arms and holding her tightly to him, not wanting to let go of the one he'd been longing to be with for so long. He removed his gold face mask before capturing her lips in a kiss that was long overdue.

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That's it for this one shot and that also means that this story is done as well. I actually cried while typing this whole story up and it didn't help that I was listening to some sad music to help me write all this. I'm still kinda sniffling at the moment. I worked all day on this story so that I could get it posted before today ends.

Please remember to review and let me know what you think.


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